


Skate, Compete, Repeat (Stay With Me)

by silver_wolf1249



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Ice Skating, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Character Death, Poor Katsuki Yuuri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 10:48:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12703458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_wolf1249/pseuds/silver_wolf1249
Summary: Katsuki Yuuri lost his family in one fell swoop that made him quit competitive figure skating, supposedly forever. Years down the line finds him in Russia, a cafe owner and acquaintances with his former (ok, current) idol, Victor Nikiforov. While Yuuri quit competing, he didn't stop skating. When Victor sees Yuuri skate "Stammi Vicino" by accident, he practically begs Yuuri to skate competitively. Yuuri isn't so sure it's a good idea, Victor tries to change that.





	Skate, Compete, Repeat (Stay With Me)

**Author's Note:**

> So, this has been in my archive for a super long time, and I thought, what the heck, let's shove it out into the world. I can't guarantee that I'll update regularly, so I apologize for that. There's just a lot going on, including the fact that currently I'm just not all that interested in writing right now. I do hope you enjoy the chapter though.

_ A loud screech, blinding pain, he feels his head smash into the seat in front of him, and the world goes dark as he hears sirens blaring. _

 

Yuuri woke up abruptly, feeling sweat drip down his face. ‘ _ The same dream again, huh? _ ’ he silently mused as he rummaged around for his glasses,  _ ‘It’s already been nine years and I still remember it as though it was yesterday. _ ’ He finally found his glasses and placed them firmly on his face before getting ready for work. He owned a small cafe and bakery for nearly one year in St. Petersburg and lived in the quaint apartment above it. He took the chairs off the tables and started the coffee machine before he went into the kitchen to start making pastries and bread. Then he flipped the sign on his door that said “Closed” to “Open”. He unlocked the door and waited for the day’s first customers. Of course, the very first person to walk in was Victor Nikiforov and his dog, Makkachin. When the at-the-time four times Grand Prix champion had walked through the cafe door Yuuri nearly fainted and proceeded to spill coffee all over himself. Then he found out that his idol was an absolutely adorkable nerd who had personal space issues and could be very air headed and forgetful. He quickly warmed up to the fact that Victor Nikiforov was a regular at his cafe as apparently it was near his apartment and even became friends with the slightly too outgoing skater (who he would never tell he had a huge crush on since forever and still had one). However Yuuri made sure to never reveal too much about himself, especially not about his past or hobbies, though he would let out some harmless information, like where he was from (Kyushu, Japan) and why he could speak fluent Russian (he had taken it along with English at school, which was a half-truth but still). “Hi Yuuri! Can I have the usual?” Victor called out much too cheerily for six in the morning in Yuuri’s opinion before sitting at one of the various stools at the counter, Makkachin trailing behind him.  

 

Yuuri smiled back at Victor, “Of course Victor, the same for Makkachin as well I’m guessing?” he asked as Victor nodded his head.

 

Yuuri bustled about to make Victor and Makkachin’s breakfast. Honestly, with how forgetful Victor could be he was surprised that the man even remembered to feed Makkachin on a daily basis, not to mention how much he had to travel because of competitions. Unsurprisingly, he found out that Victor had actually hired a dog sitter just to take care of Makkachin every day while he went to practice and traveled to a competition. Yuuri offered to take care of Makkachin instead, no pay needed since Makkachin reminded Yuuri fondly of Vicchan who had died not too long ago. Victor had been ecstatic and very thankful, but insisted to pay for Makkachin’s food at the very least, which Yuuri had agreed to.

 

Yuuri placed Victor’s food on the counter and placed Makkachin’s food on the floor next to Victor, and both ate with gusto. Yuuri and Victor engaged in some small talk in between each customer that came in as the day went on. How Victor’s practice was doing, what antics Victor’s rink mates had gotten up to, who the most annoying customer was yesterday, and of course about Makkachin. When Victor finally had to leave to get to the rink “unless I’m a masochist and  _ want _ to get extra practice with the added benefit of an angry Yakov.” he sighed with a smirk. Yuuri had shooed Victor out as he attended to another customer, and Makkachin went behind the counter to lay near Yuuri’s feet as he worked.

 

When the day was finally over, and Victor had picked up Makkachin when he came to eat dinner (the man said he wasn’t good at cooking, but Yuuri could tell by Makkachin’s small whine that “not good at cooking” was a huge understatement). Yuuri closed up for the day, he was utterly exhausted, but he still had things he had to do. He went back up to his apartment and changed into practice clothes before grabbing his bag with his skates inside. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays were skating days, every other day except Sunday was dedicated to dancing, which was mostly ballet, but he occasionally branched out to other dances. He hurried to the skating rink, he had booked it for the evening, right before the rink closed so that no one else would be there. He entered the rink and quickly slipped on his skates and took off his skate guards and placed his glasses on a bench right before he went onto the ice. He pulled out his phone and plugged in his earbuds. He stuck the earbuds in his ears and clicked on Victor’s most recent performance,  _ Stammi Vicino _ . Sure, he may not idolize Victor anymore, but he still loved recreating Victor’s performances, which always made him feel better after a long day of work. As the soft notes of  _ Stammi Vicino  _ filtered through his earbuds, Yuuri placed his phone in his pocket and began to skate. As he lost himself in the music and the feeling of flying across the ice, Yuuri didn’t notice Victor coming out of the changing room and staring in shock at the cafe owner who he had no idea could skate so... beautifully.

* * *

 

Victor had forgotten his water bottle and towel at the rink, and decided to go back to get them. When he came back out of the changing room however, he was treated to a sight that he'd never thought he’d see. Yuuri Katsuki, the owner of the Yutopia Cafe & Bakery that he frequented for breakfast and dinner (he would go there for lunch too if he could, Yuuri’s food was just that tasty, plus he was very cute, which was a great bonus in Victor’s opinion) was skating to one of his most recent programs that had broken a world record, and god his skating was absolutely  _ stunning _ . It had a couple of mistakes, but Victor had been practicing the routine for half a year and Yuuri couldn’t have been practicing it for more than two months when he had first showed it to the world. Victor could practically  _ feel _ the emotions that Yuuri was trying to portray, and that was without even hearing the music to complement the performance. Victor would say that Yuuri was a diamond in the rough, but he also knew that he would be wrong. Yuuri wasn’t a diamond in the rough, he was already polished to perfection. Yuuri was a diamond stuck in a desert, polished by the rolling sands, but also hidden from sight. All one needed to do was to pluck him out of the desert, cut him into the right shape, and show him off the the world. And Victor planned to be that person.

* * *

 

 

When Yuuri heard clapping when he finished he turned around wildly, frantically searching about. Yuuri’s eyes landed on a person looking blob who, with his fuzzy vision, could only make out that their hair was short and silver. ‘Wait, silver?’ Yuuri wondered to himself, pulling out his earbuds, ‘There’s no way, right?’ before a loud “Yuuri! Why didn’t you tell me you could skate so well? That was brilliant! I mean, there were some mistakes, and your jumps could use some work, but otherwise, your performance was quite stunning.” resonated in the air.

 

Yuuri nearly tripped onto his face. ‘Oh my god,’ he moaned to himself, ‘Victor saw that. He’s probably going to think I’m weird and stalkerish and won’t come to the cafe anymore and then I’ll never see Makkachin ever again and then…’ he stopped himself from panicking anymore and took in a deep breath. It would be fine, he told himself. Victor was a chill person that loved surprises, and Yuuri had certainly given him a surprise. He glides of the ice and puts his skate guards back on and puts his glasses on. He looks up to see Victor walk towards him, and prepares himself for whatever might happen next. What he did  _ not _ prepare for was Victor hugging Yuuri. The next part was even more unexpected, “Yuuri,” Victor drawled, grinning, and after releasing Yuuri from the hug he placed a finger under Yuuri’s chin to tilt it upwards, “become a professional ice skater and compete against me in the next Grand Prix Finals!”

 

“Ehhhhhhhh?” Yuuri exclaimed, blushing bright red as Victor kept his chin up, “Wh-what do you mean? There’s no way I could compete in the Grand Prix Finals, not even mentioning the qualifying tournaments! I have no background as a professional skater, so I wouldn’t even be invited, never mind being seeded in like you are!” Yuuri stuttered out, completely bewildered, Victor wasn’t  _ this _ much of a airhead, was he? “Even if I wanted a chance then I’d have to compete in Japan’s Nationals this year, which is in December, and I’d have to wait for next year to compete in the competitions if I even get invited! Not to mention I don’t even have a coach or anything.” he sputtered out, before becoming slightly enraged by Victor’s request, “Besides, what makes you think I even  _ want  _ to compete in figure skating? Maybe I never competed for a reason Victor.”

 

Victor gives him a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Excuses, excuses,” he clucked, disapprovingly, “the fact that you mentioned that you wouldn’t get into the competition first before even mentioning the possibility of not competing is one reason, the other being that when I mentioned that you should compete, your face was filled with so much longing, you want to compete don’t you?” Victor explained slowly before looking sad, “But you also looked so pained when I mentioned it. Why would you feel pain when I asked about competing, Yuuri?” he asked, looking like a kicked puppy.

 

Yuuri couldn’t answer that question, no wasn’t completely true, he didn’t want to answer the question. He knew exactly why he never became a professional ice skater, but it was complicated and long, and he wasn’t completely sure he wanted to spill his entire heart out to Victor. “That’s, that’s none of your buisness Victor.” he responded dejectedly, turning away from Victor so he wouldn’t see Yuuri’s watery eyes, not seeing the way Victor flinched as if was slapped when he spoke, “I have my reasons why I didn’t skate competitively even though when I was younger I did, but not all childhood dreams come true, do they?”

 

He turned and was about to walk away when he felt a hand grab his arm. He turned back around to see Victor’s eyes burning with determination and...were those tears? “Yuuri,” Victor nearly whispered, “Please? Can you try to compete? I don’t even care if I have to wait till next year, and I’ll help you with your jumps, but can you at least give it a chance?” Victor’s voice was so soft and sad, Yuuri’s heart hurt when he spoke, “I know that I’m not very good at communicating, but I know that you’re really good at skating. Your jumps might need some work, but your step sequences are even better than mine and the way you skate has so much raw emotion in it that it’s breathtaking. I really want to show the world your skating, Yuuri. Will you let me?” Victor asked, and Yuuri couldn’t say no, because Victor was the top in the world of figure skating and he had just said that he was good.

 

“I-I’ll think about it ok?” he replied, still unsure and full of fears and doubts.

 

Victor’s grateful smile is enough to blow them away, well, mostly anyway. “Thank you.” he breathed out before turning around, “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

 

“I guess so.” Yuuri responded as he watched Victor sway out of the rink before sitting on the bench. ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ Yuuri wailed to himself silently as he stuffed his face into his hands and started to hyperventilate. It was too good and terrible to be true, and yet it had happened. He wished he had someone, anyone to talk to. But it was late in Japan, so he didn’t want to disturb Yuuko, Takeshi, or Minako-sensei. Mari probably would’ve answered no matter the time but….she, okaa-san, and odou-san were long gone. It’s been two years since he went to visit their graves, and their anniversaries were coming up soon. He should go back and visit. Maybe he will soon, maybe he’s still too scared to go back. He’s grateful for Minako-sensei, Takeshi, and Yuuko’s support over the years even when he tried to push them all away, still did in fact, moving all the way to Russia. 

 

Yuuri was a terrible friend, and an even more terrible son. But he didn’t want to go back, it was so restricting, which was the whole point of him travelling to Russia, after visiting America of course, where he had met Phichit Chulanont, who had also told him that his skating was beautiful. They still kept in touch too. But Yuuri hasn’t really contacted him in so long, maybe he should do that too? His life was a mess already with only a few pieces of peace when he talked to Victor and now he had another jumble of things to add on to that mess because of Victor. The situation was going to go to hell, and it seemed that Yuuri was a masochist because he enjoyed every second of it.

**Author's Note:**

> Was it good? Was it bad? Why? Please comment! I love hearing what people think of my work.


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